Exhibition
5 - 20 July 2024
Louise Davies
Focus Exhibition
Category: Art
Art & Contemporary Art
Adrian Parnell
Adrian Parnell studied at St Martin’s School of Art and the Slade from 1970-1988. He is an associate member of the Penwith Society. Adrian’s paintings are in the Tate Gallery’s collection at Kettles Yard, Cambridge.
Adrian, now based in North Devon, continues to explore landscape and still life through his paintings.
Art & Contemporary Art
Winifred Hodge
In all my paintings the aim is to convey my feelings and sense of awareness of that particular environment. I have always spent much time outdoors, having been brought up on a farm, spending much time by the sea and living in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales for many years.
Now living in Edinburgh I spend much time along the East Lothian coast and am fortunate to be closer to the islands off the north west coast of Scotland that have always been a huge source of inspiration for me.
I never cease to be amazed by the beauty found around me in the countryside, and in particular am fascinated by the energy of moving water and its journey to the sea.. I sketch and paint outdoors and for me painting is all about capturing a moment in time, a snapshot – the distillation of a scene down to its core elements. I enjoy that challenge, using whatever medium is the most approriate for the subject, on paper or on board, working spontaneously and intuitively to capture that sense of wonder in 2D for others to enjoy too.
Art & Modern British
Victor Pasmore
Victor Pasmore, CH, CBE (1908-1998) pioneered the development of abstract art in Britain in the 1940s and 50s. Working with Chris Prater (1924-1996), master printer at Kelpra Studio, London. Pasmore created many iconic and pioneering artists’ screenprints. He developed a language of colour and form that suggest flow and movement.
Art, Ceramics & Contemporary Art
Shirley Vauvelle
Shirley has always made things since childhood, sewing dolls clothes or making things from found natural forms such as sea shells. She has been a designer, educator, craft maker, gallery owner and for almost fifteen years maker/artist showing work in galleries around the UK. She feels painting and ceramics overlap in the way she treats the surfaces, with a search for depth and a sense of herself. Her practise has tended to produce playful component pieces combined with found materials, assemblages inspired by creatures, birds and plants. It is now developing into larger scale semi abstract hand built sculptural ceramic forms and paintings.
Shirley’s art education background and initial design career was in textile/surface decoration, studying at Chester college for a foundation course and Leicester Polytechnic for a BA Hon’s, graduating in 1987. Self taught in ceramics, she works from a light filled studio in her home, which has been featured in publications including the The Observer Magazine and is situated near the east coast english seaside town of Filey. She also has a separate smaller painting studio which does not stop her producing larger scale works. An important part of her surroundings is the coast and her garden which is continuously being developed and evolving, full of many interesting plants selected for form, texture rather than prettiness, many of which are used within her work.
The work has evolved over a long period of time, in the background of her more commercial work. After the experience of lockdown, with more time to experiment and freedom to think about ideas, this has led to hand built sculptures and assemblages in stoneware and porcelain clay, with found materials. With the luxury of more time to appreciate peace and nature, allowing thinking space to the stages of development, it is very much reflected in how the pieces have evolved.
The work is now moving forward with more personal expression, still taking inspiration from her surroundings focusing on balance of shapes, pushing materials further and her own emotion reactions to them. Exploring surfaces, playing with found materials, different clays and paint all with the emphasis on looking at the different relationships of form, texture and colour. Also thinking about the wider context of nature on our planet, the strength and fragility of nature.
Art & Contemporary Art
Mhairi McGregor
Mhairi McGregor RSW was born in Paisley in 1971. She studied under and was greatly influenced by James Robertson and Barbara Rae at Glasgow School of Art, graduating with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art in 1993.
Throughout her career, McGregor has travelled extensively, spending time painting and exhibiting painted throughout Europe, Australia, Canada and the USA, as well as finding constant inspiration in her native Scotland, where she is currently based. She has lived and worked for various lengths of time in Italy, France, Spain, the USA, Canada and, favourite of all, Australia.
Mhairi’s paintings are included in many prestigious public and private collections such as, The Royal Scottish Academy, Fleming Holdings and Aberdeen University as well as private collections in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Germany and Portugal.
Art
David Morris
David Morris (1937-2018) was born in Knaresborough and studied painting and printmaking at Harrogate School of Art, continuing his studies in painting and sculpture at the Slade in 1959. After graduating he began part-time teaching the foundation course at Bradford College of Art. In 1963 he was employed as the full-time printmaking teacher at Harrogate College of Art.
Once David had retired from teaching he concentrated on his own work as a painter and printmaker. Etching was his preferred method, particularly aquatint. The North Yorkshire coast and landscape provided much of his subject matter. In 2012 David’s work was purchased by the House of Lords.
Art & Contemporary Art
Ruth Ander
After completing a BA (Hons) in Illustration at the University of the West of England, Ruth has continued to evolve and hone her unique monoprint technique. She has continued to develop her work at Spike Print Studio in Bristol, making variable editions of dry-point etchings and relief prints.
Early in her career she was shortlisted for the Emerging Artist award at the Royal West of England Academy Open exhibition and won the Society of Graphic Fine Art’s Best Work in Colour. Ruth has gone on to have work exhibited in prestigious print exhibitions at the Atkinson Gallery in Somerset, The Shire Hall in Stafford and in open competitions at well-regarded venues such as the RWA.
In recent years I’ve taken part in a year long print residency at the University of the West of England’s print department and a group residency at Lizard Point in Cornwall resulting in exhibitions in London and Helston.
Ruth describes her inspiration as follows:
‘My inspiration is landscape, nature and light- often in North Somerset, the Severn Estuary, Dorset and Wiltshire- the places I know and love best, but also sometimes far away places I’ve travelled to. My motivation is to express the way I feel about these places- they move me and I want to move others.’
Exhibition
7 - 22 June 2024
Andrew Farmer
Northern Impressions
Following the success of his previous exhibition “North Landing” at Watermark Gallery in October 2022, Andrew Farmer has spent the last year painting in Northumberland exclusively for us.
The result is a new selection of over 30 oil paintings below. The title of the show “Northern Impressions” reflects Andrew’s trademark style as very much that of a modern-day impressionist painter, as well as his Yorkshire roots and love of the North of England.
Andrew Farmer will be at Watermark Gallery in Harrogate on Saturday 8th June, 11am to 3pm, for the official opening of this exhibition. Please do come along to meet him and help us celebrate this beautiful collection of paintings.
